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Thursday, July 23, 2015

Stampeding to Sarteano: Italy

Quidditch emerged in Italy in 2011 when the first team, the Milano Meneghins, was established by Michele Clabassi armed with a translated copy of Rulebook 5. More teams were created in the following years, and now six teams are members of the Associazione Italiana Quidditch (AIQ), with around a dozen unofficial teams in the country. Italy did not manage to make it to last year’s Global Games, but sent three teams to the European Quidditch Cup (EQC), of which Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino (the current Italian champions) did exceptionally well by finishing in ninth place. The Green Tauros were possibly the biggest surprise at EQC, and the other two teams punched well above their weight given the squads were rather small. This EQC revealed a glimpse of the talent that Italy has to offer and, although it has hovered in the fringes of European quidditch for a couple of years, it will certainly be a team to watch at this tournament.

Logo of theAssociazione Italiana Quidditch, the Italian National Governing Body

The Squad

An asterisk next to a player’s name indicates that they are likely to be seeking alongside their primary position.

Keepers:

Francesco Ermini (Milano Meneghins)

Alberto Nicolini (The Hinkypunks Quidditch Bologna)

Walid “Wolly” Benfadel (Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino)

Chasers:

Michele Clabassi (Milano Meneghins) - Captain

Velia Cavallini (Milano Meneghins)

Giampiero Estupinian (Società Professionistica Quidditch Roma)

Jonathan Lionetti (Milano Meneghins)

Davide Maniscalco (Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino)

Andrea Miglietta (Lunatica Quidditch Club)

Marco Minò* (Lunatica Quidditch Club)

Francesco Peciccia (Lunatica Quidditch Club)

Fabio Sunna (Lunatica Quidditch Club)

Gianluca Tenzone (Milano Meneghins)

Beaters:

Soraya Abbagnato (Paris Frog)

Marco Anglano (Lunatica Quidditch Club)

Naike Casciello (The Hinkypunks Quidditch Bologna)

Michele Genovese (Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino)

Giorgia Quinti (Virtute Romana Quidditch)

Jacopo Radice (Milano Meneghins)

Frankie Secco (Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino)

Salvatore Zollino* (Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino)

The Leadership

Coaches:

Italy has divided its coaching task into two distinct roles: the coach and the trainer. The coach takes a more holistic approach, and is involved in organisation and welfare. This role will be taken up by Niccolò Terranova, and he will have to organise the team on the day as well as having a say in who is allowed to play. Marco Minò is the trainer, and his role is more in keeping with the traditional concept of coach: helping with the technical aspects of the sport to bring the team together and to best utilise the strengths of the various players. This differentiation could help streamline the process for the Italians, and allow the trainer to focus on the gameplay side of things.

Captain:

Michele Clabassi is one of the oldest names in Italian quidditch; he created the first team in the country, which is no mean feat, and he is also Italy’s IQA Congress representative. He is widely respected figure in the European quidditch community, thanks to the last year or so he has spent involved in administration and organisation of events, so he was an obvious choice for captain. He has been captain of the Milano Meneghins since 2012, and these three years of captaincy, as well as an unparalleled knowledge of Italian quidditch, will furnish him well for the task of captaining Team Italy.

Commentary

The top three teams in Italy are well-represented here, with 16 members coming from either Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino, the Milano Meneghins, or Lunatica Quidditch Club. This is a predictable spread of teams given that these are the clubs with the most experience in international play; the teams from Rome and Bologna made appearances at the Italian championship, but have not yet played outside of Italy. Italian teams have tended to struggle with recruitment, although the number of people playing quidditch in Italy is increasing; the size of Italy’s teams has tended to be its downfall, simply getting fatigued by its opponents. However, it is evident that this will not be a problem with a full 21, and this could be an exciting opportunity to see the potential of Italian quidditch be fully unlocked.

One of the most exciting talents on the squad is Walid Benfadel, a keeper of fantastic standard who is most recognisable as the primary driving force of the Green Tauros’ attack. Soraya Abbagnato and Michele Genovese are some of the names which stand out in the beater corps, and, with consistently high levels of talent and experience in the bludger game, Italy should be able to hold its own against tougher beater lineups. Lunatica has an impressive seeking record, and regularly pulls itself out of SWIM situations, so the presence of at least one of its seekers (Marco Minò) will be comforting to the Italian side. Salvatore Zollino, of Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino, is also an excellent seeker, and so Team Italy should be feeling reasonably confident about its ability to make the best out of close games.

One comment to be made about the Italian squad is that it does not seem to have a large number of female players. Although it is likely that at a national level these women will be equipped to deal with their low numbers, especially given this is a common issue in their home teams, long days against tough teams may take their toll. These are players of a national standard with a great deal of experience behind them, but the calibre of the teams they will be facing will be no small trial even for those with ample subs, and so this could prove to be a difficult hurdle to overcome.

Prediction

Although Italy will not exactly have an easy time, it should certainly make it through to the quarterfinals. Italy is one of those teams of which there are several examples at this tournament: teams with obvious talent and good national competitive records, but without the kind of consistency that would make it seem inevitable that it will grab a place in the semifinals. Italy’s closest competition, therefore, is likely to be in Belgium and Turkey, other teams whose EQC records were mixed but showed huge potential. It would be surprising for Italy not to make it through the group stages, but it will have to fight tooth and nail for a place in the semifinals.